Romans 15:9-12 Rejoice Gentiles
“He came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote: ‘For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.’ And in another place it is written, ‘Rejoice with his people, you Gentiles.’ And yet again, ‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles. Praise him, all you people of the earth.’ And in another place Isaish said, ‘The heir to David’s throne will come, and he will rule over the Gentiles. They will place their hope on him.’”
Israel may be God’s chosen people, but He didn’t forget about the rest of us. Anyone not a member of Israel is a Gentile. That’s a whole bunch of us. Yes, it includes everybody except the people of Israel—red men, white men, black men, yellow men, Hindus, Muslims, Catholics, Lutherans, Taoists, Amish, Schwenkfelders, Quakers, Confucianists, Communists, atheists, and yes, even satanists. Look at what today’s Scripture says about us. We “might give glory to God for his mercies” to us. God has mercy on all peoples, but some of us reject it. We will sing praises to His name. Maybe this one isn’t all exclusive, but all those who finally accept Jesus Christ will sing praises to His name. We will rejoice with the people of Israel. Again, maybe this one is not all inclusive, especially today. But the day will come when all peoples will rejoice with God’s chosen nation in Jerusalem. We will praise him, “all you people of the earth.” We will place our hope in the “heir to David’s throne.”
God certainly does care about the Gentiles. He sent a savior, not just for Israel, but for all the people of the earth. He sent the Savior through His chosen people, Israel, but the Savior was sent for everyone, and God sent His special messenger, Paul, specifically to the Gentiles: Galatians 1:15,16 says, “But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being”
God has gone so far as to graft us into the tree of Israel. In Romans 11:17-19, we are told, “But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special Olive tree” (NLT). We are now actually part of the tree of Israel. We are fed from the root that has nourished Israel throughout many centuries. Yes, we Gentiles have much to be thankful for, and multiple reason to praise, honor, and love our God.